Bruh I almost just based a point in my college essay on this comment before I realized he didn’t actually say that. Damn it would really help if he had
One thing i liked about this scene is that the 'leader' didn't have a 1 on 1 with someone to the death, he got swarmed and stabbed by multiple people. A lot more realistic than, 1 on 1 with everyone standing around watching :P
Still not realistic, the battle immediately descends into utter chaos where fighters are pairing off. The Roman legions would be in formation using their shields as a literal wall that the enemy could not get past.
Yes. I think if this was film was made in 2016, Maximus would just have to have a 1v1 with the big German guy who throws the severed head. Oh no wait, he would also have to be a superhero too.
+IronRooRoo True that. Everything from the armor, to the weaponry to the tactics is so nicely done in this battle its a pity they didn't stay more historically accurate with the formations. It would have great to see units fighting behind a shield wall, testudo maybe.
No, the typical formation was not used in the latter stage of Marcus's war in Germania. He revised the formation into more fractional maneuverable ones to suit the German forests. The traditional block formation was a proven defeat in the earlier stage of the war
I don't think much of this is realistic, you don't use fire arrows and siege engines in a pitch battle and the soldiers did the whole duelling thing that movies always do.
Just for the info, this battle (although fictional and not really caring about historical accuracy, just as rest of the movie) would probably happen during the Marcomannic wars which happened from 166 to 180 AD. We divide them into 3 separate wars. Specifically this scene would happen during the 2nd one where Marcus Aurelius went to Austria, later defeated enemies in battles in modern Slovakia and followed them into their lands, but he died shortly after and his heir Commodus offered strict peace (although his generals weren´t happy with that) in which he demanded tribute and return of rebellious tribes back under Rome as basically vassals, but agreed with return to pre-war borders, which basically prevented Rome from creating new, planned provinces in central Europe and assimilation of those tribes as they did with so many others and so he returned to Rome shortly after. Creation of those provinces would enable creation of wider buffer zone that migh offer good defense of very important provinces behind the Danube and it is considered (just as majority of all decisions which Commodus ever did) to be a mistake, but he just really liked feasts and games, so few more years of warfare in germanic forrests didn´t sound so great to him.
Yeah, not too accurate. Roman army at its peak had tight, unbreakable square formations with each man on the front fighting no more than 6 minutes after which he was replaced and given some water and rest so that the whole army would be able to fight for hours and hours together without falling apart
YES exactly what I was saying previously..... Dead on. The orderly, synchronized, sequential fighting and front-line replacement tactics are what wore away at brute force and shock tactics from Germanic/Celtic troops. I love this movie, and think there are really good depictions of the soldiers are great.
Totally! Man-if Wars went back to being fought like this?-Face to face-Man to man..!??!.. War would be SO MUCH MORE Re-considered before ever engaging in it so Recklessly.
@@richardmapa2585 What we have today is not even real war. Hundreds of thousands died on both sides in a single engagement during WWI over a few yards of worthless dirt. Now you do not even get 100k casualties in a year. We have already become far less reckless.
@sebbspato2 True, but for plot reasons Maximus was refered as spaniard in the movie since he was born in what is today´s Spain altough i must agree that the proper term should have been Iberian.
@@JC-xi9kr Dear J.C., thanks to have answer to my comment! Seems you are very susceptible and nervous, specially considering that my comment about football was for fun. Maybe it was obvious just for smart people, but with you we have an exception! Don't worry, I love talking of history and this is a great opportunity for you to learn something :) Rome was, first of all, a city in Latium, in central Italy. It was founded in 753 b.C. (it's one of the oldest cities in Europe) and it became an empire "only" in 27 b.C.. This means that, for many centuries, Rome was first a city and then a Republic. In that period, the Italic Peninsula was a "melting pot" of many different populations, such as "Veneti" and "Liguri" in the north (ancient populations that gave birth to autonomous civilisations) Greeks in the south, Etruscans in the centre (I'm sure you know the greatness of Etruscans :) ) and many other Italic populations in the centre and in the south, including the Romans. So, first of all, history should teach you that Italic peninsula was one of the richest "meeting point" of civilisations of all human history and not, as you said, "an insignificant country" :) You're also wrong when you said that "Rome was not an ethnic people": surely it was, they had a precise consideration of themselves as a specific population of Italic Peninsula that, after, began to expand :) More than this, let me tell you that Romans had a precise idea of all the lands "at this side of the Alps" and history should teach you this. All the lands of Italic Peninsula were the first lands that composed the first Roman Republic: before the massive expansion all over Europe, Rome became the first power between Italic populations who became, year by year, the heart of Roman civilisation. In fact, Romans called Italic Peninsula (all the lands between the Alps and the bottom of the "Boot") "Italia" and they defined it as "Domina Provinciarum" ("Queen of provinces"), "Rectrix Mundi" ("World's Ruler"), "Omnium Terrarum Parens" ("Mother of all lands"). They considered the Italic Peninsula as the homeland of their civilisation. In fact, with "Lex Plautia Papiria" (89 b.C.) and "Lex Roscia" (49 b.C.) the Roman citizenship was extended by right to all inhabitants of the Peninsula. First Roman legions was totally composed by Italic soldiers and even the Pretorian guard was, in the first centuries of its existence, composed rigorously of Italics. So third error for you, since Italy was not "incidentally situated" in Roman world but, on the contrary, it occupied a prestigious and foundamental place in the formation of Roman's identity :) About this topic, I suggest you to read "Geography" of Strabone, it may help you in understanding what "Italia" meant for Romans :) I read it in ancient Greek (because I studied it for many years, with Latin of course) and I translated it, but, if you didn't study ancient Greek, I'm sure you can find copies in your mother language :) When Rome moved to other European lands, they had a precise idea of differences between "lands at this side of the Alps" and "lands at the other side of the Alps", and this is not my opinion: this is History. Of course, since Rome built an Empire, many other people began to live under Roman civilisation, contributing to enrich the Empire itself. This was the key of Rome's power but, until the end of Western Empire in 476 a.D., "Italia" had a role of prestige and prominence, which differentiated it from every region of the Empire. As I told you, you can read Strabone but also Cassio Dione, Caesar and Velleio Patercolo (just to name a few) if you want to find something about this topic :) I suggest you to read them in Latin and to translate, as I did, but if you don't know Latin don't worry, you can find copies in you mother language :) After falling of Roman Empire (476 a.D. for its Western Part) and during Middle Ages, Barbaric tribes arrived also in Italy and during the centuries lot of other populations contributed to create a "melting pot" in Europe and in Italy (and this is the greatness of European civilisation, that we are all brothers). Do you want to know something interesting? Even after the falling of the Empire, Germanic tribes in Italy maintained administrative power in the hands of Italic officials, because they had administered they own Peninsula for over a thousand years. Of course Europe is a "melting pot" of many different populations, but history should teach you (and I explained to you, also giving you historical references) that the ties between Rome and Italy were so strong that the Romans themselves granted to all Italics to consider themselves as "Romans", and this happened lot of years before the extension of citizenship to the rest of other territories. This means that Italy has the oldest ties with ancient Rome. This is testified, for example, by the fact that Italy is the country with the largest number of Roman ruins. Every modern State all over the world is composed by a large number of different ethnicities, that's for sure. And every State in Europe has collected the Roman legacy, this is clear to everyone who studied. But it should be also clear that the strongest, oldest and deepest heritage of Roman civilisation is in Italy. It's not different, for example, from the fact that England was the homeland of Britons. It was invaded by the Romans, by the Germanic tribes, by the Vikings...and it became a "melting pot". But it does not deprive England of its deeper Celtic origins. Lastly, I also would like to tell you that my "misplaced sense of justified pride" - as you said - is due to the fact that Italy has 55 UNESCO sites (first country in the world with China), that in Italy we have an environmental condition such unique that we have - from Northern Italy to Southern Italy - the largest variety of food products in the world, that we have 7000 species of eatable vegetables (first country in the world), that we have 58000 different animal species (first country in the world), that we have 1200 local vineyards (first country in the world; the second place is occupied by France with 222), that we have 533 olive species (first country in the world; the second country is Spain, with 70), 140 wheat crops varieties (first country in the world; U.S.A. at the second place with 6). We are the country with the biggest biodiversity in the world. We're historically the cruel of Western civilisation (with Greece). We have had poets like Dante and genius like Leonardo. We've had the Renaissance. We've had artists like Michelangelo, Raffaello, Botticelli, Donatello, Canova, Bernini, Verdi, Rossini, Vivaldi, Puccini, Monteverdi, Boccherini and thousands, thousands more. We've had great scholars like Galilei, like Fermi, like Marconi and thousands more, through the ages. Even the Alphabetic characters that you are using was invented in my Peninsula. Still think my pride is misplaced? And you, where are you from? :) Bye P.s.: everyone should be proud of his/her homeland, everyone should be proud and aware of his/her origins, without svalutate the others' one. But this requires a high level of education and I'm afraid you lack it.
marconi marconi..................you mean nikola tesla's wanna be....copy cat.......fraud.........yeah well i will not be so proud about that idiot, i just wanted to point THIS one out only, and yes obviously a kinda hate this asshole. just a personal thing.......
Why do you try to diminish their sacrifice? You mean that warriors are not allowed to enjoy a glorious death? You think warriors should be depressed and full of rage only?
If you look closely, you can see a lot of them, both Romans and Barbarians alike, have this grin on their face as if they are playing swordfight like lil kids, which is exactly what acting is. Since these extras are only there to fill a scene as a crowd, they don't need to be particularly skilled... but would it kill them to take it seriously, no matter how fun it might've been, they could have ruined the scene if it was obvious enough to be caught on the first watch in the theaters. How many footage might have gone to waste when they noticed theses during film editing stage.
That famous 3:43 clip. Yeah but look to the far right. Smiling Romans just watching and a barbarian just strolling. He has got a giant arrow in his chest or maybe in his shield.
Then you never saw the movie with this same empire against a 2010 US force of 20,000 men with mini guns, helicopters, stealth bombers you name it. They wiped out this Roman army in less than 6 minutes. Seeing the Roman army marching against tanks and 20+ miniguns was laughable and the Romans looked awful and couldn’t advance. It was a movie where the US wanted to test a time machine at this time and sent back an armada.
Except they never did (flaming arty) that except sieges of backward barbarian cities and villages full of thatched and wooden roofs. That's why the Roman really tried to tile all their roofs; that and the rain water they could get.
@@danielcarelli5704 We may start all with the simple fact that romans dont have cavalry and archers in the legion.And this guys with bows and horses are not auxiliaries (support troops) by the look of them :)
at 3:08, when the hammer drops on Hans Zimmermans "The Battle" score, and you hear Maximus's "HOLD THE LINE!" echoing over the thunderous booming of the horses galloping, man that still gives me chills 22 years later
what about greece?? romans did copy paste to 90% of the things greeks did. so you say china invented apple and many other brands like nike adidas phillips....
I love that it was just normal Legionnaires that killed the enemy barbarian general. No epic duel, no ridiculous fight scene, just a normal, valiant man being overwhelmed and falling to well-trained and armored enemies.
Still a bit of historical ridiculousness in this scene. The idea that the Romans would use siege warfare weapons on tribes in an open field (who are dressed like they are still in the Stone Age) is just silly.
@@seraphx26 Siege batteries on forest tribes? I don't think so. There's no evidence that catapults and ballistae were ever used in a forest. But do cite some if you know of any.
Seen too much slaughter and too much destruction. Unfortunately, it is in the nature of empire that the answer to the question "Is it enough?" is always "no".
As a teenager I appreciated the aesthetic of this movie. Now as an adult I also recognise that aside from the brilliant cinematics, it also featured 4 of the greatest acting talents tp ever grace the big screen. Harris and Reed are no longer with us, Crowe was at his peak during this time and Phoenix had yet to be fully recognised for his sheer talent as an actor.
When I'm depressed I watch all my favourite battle scenes and fighting sequences, the more visceral the better. Then it's all good again with the world. Next stops: Ironclad and 300.
This battle scene would be great in any context but I think what makes it particularly great is that it's the OPENING scene. Its purpose is to introduce Maximus and the other characters, rather than most big budget battle scenes which are the climax/conclusion of the movie. I think this is the formula to have great scenes like this but to not feel cheesy or cliche or too much plot-armor.
I'd have to give it to Saving Private Ryan on the sheer brutal realism alone. This opening for Gladiator has an epic speech going for it over Saving Private Ryan and that's about it. But wow, is it a great speech. "Brothers, what we do in life echoes through eternity."
This scene always brings me to tears. Being a "Barbarian" as a Swede I should have been routing for the "barbarian" side. But the Romans with their dicipline and well organized warfare they epitomized the modern western society. This is what we have acheived to this date.
Rome is still a thing. its just have another name. it lives in your governments, laws, citizen rights, democracy and militaries. Rome is a Western Civilization
That's just BS. How does this bring you to tears...It's 2000 years ago!!!. My Father is from Rome but I dont feel anything for the Romans as its too far removed from my reality......
Now it's pretty much the opposite. Most Mediterraneans see the Scandinavian countries as the ideal standard of society and country. And I know that well because I'm Spanish and we reference the Scandinavian countries as our ideal.
I picked up Rome 1 Gold Edition for 3 bucks the other day! Been tripping down memory lane- it's amazing how much depth I was missing about the game when I had it as a younger kid. haha
I always watch this scene for Marcus Aurelius' expression after the end of the battle. You can see he's exhausted, more psychologically than physically. "Another one has been won". Great acting.
Imagine, all your career you are on the Roman frontier, fighting barbarian incursions after barbarian incursions, never stopping in Rome for at least a year, will truly make you look like Marcus Aurelius.
The Roman legions were an extraordinary fighting force. It is incredible how Hannibal with 30,000 Carthagenians destroyed 10 legions (60,000 men) in the battle of Cannae using simple double envelopment
A testament to Hannibal's outstanding initiative, and to the resilience of both the Roman people and their infrastructure, considering such a disaster like Cannae would have ended the resistance of any lesser nation.
It probably cost hundreds of thousands of dollars just to shoot that one scene.If they had caught this clitch in Editing/ Continuity it was probably just not considered worthy of re-shooting it, in time and money, just because a couple of moron extras were apparantly screwing around during the filming. Who would notice it, anyway?(lol)
They gave Rome their greatest defeat in the Teutoburg forest under Arminius. Some might say Hannibal gave them their worst defeat but after that the Romans mostly had success and defeated Carthage whereas after the Teutoburg the Romans never actually claimed Germania again
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- I mentioned that but not by name but to me the Teutoburg was their greatest defeat because after Cannae, Rome began to have success and ultimately won the war and Rome wasn’t at the height of their power at the time. With the Teutoburg they were at the height of their power and Rome was never able to subjugate Germania. Also the number of Romans killed at Cannae as far as I know isn’t concrete and to me it’s not necessarily about how many people are killed but the long lasting effects that matter more
@@TheMan-je5xq They are both significant of course in their own ways but in terms of pure losses in a major battle it's Cannae, 8 Legions were totally wiped out compared to 3 legions at Teutoberg forest. Imagine walking through a field thats littered with 70,000 bodies after just one day of combat.
@@Bullet-Tooth-Tony- Well, I didn’t say that the Germanians gave the Romans their greatest defeat in terms of lives lost. I was talking about the long-term ramifications of said defeat. The way I see it the Romans at Cannae weren’t even professional soldiers they were citizen soldiers. At the Teutoberg forest they were a professional army at that point and also the soldiers on the Carthaginian were professionals. Also like I said 70,000 is on the high end of how many Romans were thought to be killed that day, I’ve heard it was more like 50,000. It’s a fascinating battle no doubt and I love learning about it but the way I see it after that the Romans started winning and Hannibal was counting on the Romans surrendering and he got a big surprise when they said no way lol
@@MattJunewski That highly depends on period. Sometimes Praetorians were nothing but useless thugs who couldn't fight their way out of a plastic bag if their lives depended on it. Other times they formed the literal vanguard for military campaigns and were a pretty successful fighting force.
@@MattJunewski Praetorians (especially in this era) are actually not the guard of the emperor. The emperor is guarded usually by germanic mercenaries, because they didn't even properly spoke the language, so it was hard to bribe them. In fact, after the death of Commodus (Marc Aurels son), the praetorians played a very sorry-ass role. They "sold" the Imperium to the highest bider, I think a man named Pertinax won. When Septimius Severus took over, the praetorians immediatly surrendered to him and he stripped them of their rank, while moving his own troops into that position. Because at this point, being a praetorian just granted you higher pay, a stay in Rome/Latinum and very little danger to actually see war.
@Lord Voldemort well the Yi Ti is based of the Chinese Han Empire, which at its height was greater in expanse than the Roman empire. What's funny is they existed at the same time and they knew about each other albeit vaguely.
@@brianhung6563 the Han sent an envoy to find Rome (they had heard of a mighty empire that was equal to their own, which it should be noted surprised them a lot) and make a trading alliance with them. The envoy reached the edge of the Parthian empire, but turned south instead of west. He was within 40 days march of Rome's eastern provinces but instead went along the Arabian peninsula to the Persian gulf where traders thought he wanted to go round Arabia or Africa to get to Rome and so told him it would take years. He turned and headed back to China when he heard this, some have speculated that it was the Parthians intentionally gave mis-information to prevent the two greatest empires of the time from contacting each other. Although apparently during the reign of Marcus Aurelius some Roman's reached what is now Vietnam and mapped the area, Roman glass, coins and other goods have also been found in China.
Rome would crush them both easily, the imperial army had around 350,000 men at its peak, this is not counting the thousands upon thousands of auxiliaries. Also they would be so wealthy in comparison that they could buy off most of the armies of Westeros and Essos without fighting at all.
I can't imagine how terrifying it must be for the German frontline .... there's really no defense against those giant arrows and fire pots. To a certain extend you can protect yourself against cloud of small normal arrows by a shield .... but there's nothing to do against those giant arrows and fire.
Anyone else at about 3:30ish think that the soundtrack sounds awfully similar to the first Pirates of the Caribbean? I'm guessing same composer, to lazy too check imdb for sure, but really was struck by how alike the scores are
@@ZELTrok Barbarians weren’t savages, that is literally Roman propaganda. They were skilled craftsmen and the romans adopted many weapons and armour from them.
If you watched this part, you will understand why there are so many well respected barrack emperors in the Roman history. Being a general doesn't mean you can sit in the back and plot, you have to get down to the thick of the fighting and dish it out like all other soldiers. Caesar had to do it, Aurelian did it, Constantine had to do it. In the battle, you are just like any other soldiers, no different.
this was one of the few nice things the romans had.you have to th same risks discomfort and finally death others had.This i respect. it was far from therelevant ideology today: you die i win.
The last scene always gets me. The first time I watched it I cried, made me feel conscious of the ones who died in the fields of battle in all our history
Me too, I weep silently for the tragedy of human nature, that we dismember each other with swords and missiles and dogs, and when those are spent we pummel each other in the face with rock or fist. It is heart-rending to me 😭
The Roman army was pretty touchy about risking getting their 'eagles' taken in battle, particularly after the disasters where Varus lost three of them; and even more were lost at Carrhae against the Parthians. There would always be a senior Centurion and a detachment around the Legion's standard at all times during a battle. It was an earth-shaking disgrace to lose one in battle, to the legionnaires death was preferable to that shame.
Yup. get the ignorant average soldier to believe in some mystical symbol and they're fight to the death. The holy rock, the heaven sent duck's egg, a flag, the Queen's used underwear, a stuffed godly squirrel, lets all die for idiocy. But it works.
